Oldboy (2003) Review

by Joshua Hess

A disturbing revenge story that dismantles the tropes of a normal action film.

Let me start out by saying: I freaking love this movie. This is absolutely a film that does not let up, at all. Now, when I say that, some may read it and think this film is overwhelming, and, in a sense, it is. It is visceral and at times it is downright unnerving, but that is what makes it so compelling to watch. From the scenes of ants crawling out of the main character's flesh to watching him rip a man's teeth out with the claw end of a hammer, you definitely need a stomach of steel to get through some of the more grisly parts of this movie. If you watch this movie just for the bloody violence and action, you'll have a good enough time, but if you stop for a moment to pay attention, you'll realize that you're seeing some of the most clever and interesting cinematography that has been put to film in this decade. Just to name an example of this, the first on screen kill by our protagonist shows him standing behind a guard in a chair. The guard in the chair swivels around to face Oh Dae-Su, who is holding a hammer high above his head, ready to strike.

The red lines appear from the claw end and begin rapidly appearing until they reach the guard's forehead. We are then treated to a close-up shot of Oh-Dae Su's mouth as he slowly forms a side smile, and then...well I'm sure you can figure out what happens next.

This scene is only one moment in a barrel full of amazing cinema. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite sequences of all time follows this, with Oh Dae-Su making his way through a hallway full of hired thugs. Instead of the movie making sure we know that Oh Dae-Su is a badass superhero like normal action movies do, we are reminded that he is just a normal man. Of course, his circumstances and mental state are not normal, but that's where it ends. Throughout this hallway scene, Oh Dae-Su stumbles, falls, gets hit, and damn nearly gets killed. He wins the fight, but not by a landslide by any means. He is beaten, stabbed, bloodied. It really makes you feel a sense of realism by just how human this fight feels. Of course, it isn't just Oh Dae-Su that is falling over and tripping. The enemies often miss their attacks, trip over each other, show intense looks of anxiety on their faces after they watch their buddies fall victim to Oh Dae-Su's willingness to succeed. I can't really do this scene justice, please watch it for yourself if you can. 

Now, I could talk more about the plot of this film, but honestly, it would take hours to translate it all to text format. There are so many details and small scenes that have such a higher significance later in the film, I feel like it would be an injustice to the creators of this film if I sat here and explained every detail. I highly recommend that you watch this yourself as it is free to watch on Tubi at the time of writing. I'm giving this a 9/10. Not because it doesn't deserve the full 10, but I found some of the symbolism to be a little bit of a stretch. This is a great movie for very many different reasons and I highly recommend watching it.

9/10. Thank you for reading! Do you agree with what I said or disagree? Let me know!